The Stock Market Is on Autopilot Again – TheStreet.com

Stocks are back on autopilot less than a week from the first Fed Reserve meeting under chairman Jerome Powell.

If that doesn’t make even the most bullish investor nervous, then said investor must have ice-water running through their veins. Dow futures popped 100 points on Sunday as of 7:30 p.m. EST. S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite futures rose 8 points and 22 points, respectively.

Stocks closed off last week with a bang. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average pushed higher 440 points, or 1.77%. The S&P 500 gained 1.74%, while the Nasdaq Composite posted its first record close since Jan. 26, up 1.79% Friday.

For the week, the Dow gained 3.5% and the S&P rose 3.9%. The Nasdaq was higher 3.1% for the week.

Watch What’s On TheStreet’s Radar

On the latest edition of Jolt, we went around the newsroom to see what everyone was preparing for in the week ahead. You can watch below.

Jerry Kronenberg, Managing Editor: The top columnists on on our sister publicationRealMoney tell Kronenberg they are split on where the market goes next. There is one camp that is decidedly bullish, reflecting strong corporate fundamentals and a recovery in the market’s technicals after the February correction. On the other side are the bears who believe we have rallied too far, too fast off the February lows.

Given this doubt, might want to just stay long stocks early in the week.

Ron Fink, Co-Editor of The Deal: Fink explains that private equity — flush with cash — continues to be on the hunt for deals. PE’s biggest players are snooping around tech, which Fink thinks is a reason valuations for large-cap tech names such as Netflix (NFLX) and Action Alerts Plus holding Amazon (AMZN) remain inflated. It’s unlikely a PE shop buys Netflix, of course, but it’s the mere prospect of this money being willing to pay up even more for high growth tech names that is the thesis.

Tracy Byrnes, Sr. Correspondent: Byrnes is full steam ahead with her widely-watched Alpha Rising series that looks at the most powerful women in business. March is Women’s History Month, so be sure to check back for more from Alpha Rising.

Kinsey Grant, reporter: TheStreet’s resident cryptocurrency expert has her eyes on the terrible March so far for bitcoin — prices have dived about 8% as of Sunday evening. Grant is also fresh off taking a critical look at the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) .

Cathaleen Chen, retail reporter: It’s show time for Walmart (WMT) U.S. CEO Greg Foran at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch conference on Wednesday. Foran’s comments will be must listen following Walmart’s disappointing fourth-quarter earnings release.

Foran is often measured in his comments, so if you think he will make news at the event think again. As a result, sentiment around Walmart’s stock may continue to be short-term bearish.

Zev Fima, Research Analyst Action Alerts Plus: Fima is wicked on the charts. He notes the market’s solid close on Friday was a positive sign on short-term sentiment. Check out Action Alerts Plus here.

Yours truly: What am I not watching should be more like it. Here are several things on my radar: (1) During a Q&A session at the SXSW gathering on Sunday, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said his SpaceX will be ready to fly a rocket to Mars in 2019. Musk continues to come off as a person more obsessed with space travel than building electric cars, which should be a major worry for Tesla investors. (2) General Electric’s (GE) stock managed to rise 6% last week, nicely out-performing the Dow, on speculation it was nearing some asset sales. If the troubled company’s stock keeps climbing this week, the speculation may ultimately prove to be reality.